Saints Membership scheme is back

Southampton FC ‏@SouthamptonFC 4m4 minutes ago

There's a new way to be #InThatNumber. 2015/16 Official Membership, available from Monday 15th June. #saintsfc

Southampton Football Club will be launching an Official Membership scheme for the 2015/16 campaign.

As members, Saints fans of all ages will be able to enjoy a range of benefits including priority access to tickets for home and away matches, priority access to the Ticket Exchange, an official membership card and more.

If you want to feel closer to your club, the Official Membership goes on sale from Monday 15th June – but you can register your interest from today.

Adult membership is available for supporters aged 17 years and older, with junior membership on offer to fans aged under 16 and below.

Adult members will receive the following benefits:

• Priority access to home tickets
  
• Priority access to away tickets (after Season Ticket holders)
  
• Priority access to the Ticket Exchange
  
• Official membership card for access to home matches
  
• Exclusive monthly members’ newsletter direct to your inbox
  

Junior members will benefit from all of the above, as well as the following:

• Saints birthday card
  
• Opportunity to become matchday mascot (seven-to-11 year olds)
  
• Opportunity to be in the team photo
  
• Special gift in the welcome pack
  

Adult membership is priced at £25, with the junior scheme available for £15.

Makes sense with the possiblity of a European tour, helps prioitise ticket sales and brings in added cash from non-ST holders.

Makes sense with the possiblity of a European tour, helps prioitise ticket sales and brings in added cash from non-ST holders.

and if there isn't?

it will help to get priority for the bigger home league games but its not needed for the majority of home games and the really popular away games will sell out to ST holders first anyway. Apart from priority that there are no other benefits of it and for £25 quid its on the high side for that alone.

Another way for the club to make some money but it's inevitable given the season we've just had and how FFP works.

It's a good idea IMO. There are many for a whom a season ticket isn't a viable option, for numerous reasons. This gives them an opportunity to receive priority (at a cost) for high demand matches that they would be able to attend.

Yes, this was mentioned by someone from the ticket office when they asked why I hadn't renewed my season ticket. A good idea, will help keep me in the loop.

another way to squeeze more money out of fans and people say well done for it

another way to squeeze more money out of fans and people say well done for it

 

 

Agreed, means I may have to fork out another £25 I wouldn't otherwise have had to.

Id probably do this, does anyone know if you will be able to buy multiple priority tickets per game, or will you only be able to buy tickets for the priority pass holder? Thanks.

I am happy with this and £25 is not a huge price to pay as a one off. Plus if it means I can get tickets to away games (which I haven't been able to since back in the Prem) I will be very pleased.

another way to squeeze more money out of fans and people say well done for it

 

 

To be fair a lot of people moaned when the old membership system was stopped.

When you compare our membership scheme to the unfathomable mass of additional costs the likes of Arsenal put on being able to buy a ticket if you're not a season ticket holder, I think it's pretty reasonable to charge (approximately) 65p a league match for the privilege of getting priority on tickets.

It does also make it much easier to sort out priority for the bound-to-be-massively-oversubscribed Europa League 3rd Round Qualifying match considering they'd only have ST holders and then "everyone else" in the database at the start of the season - they must be hoping we play someone like Sunderland or West Brom really early in the season to link the Europa League game against.

Though £25 is quite a jump from the £10 it was about 10 years ago when we last had it.

Id probably do this, does anyone know if you will be able to buy multiple priority tickets per game, or will you only be able to buy tickets for the priority pass holder? Thanks.

Logically you'd expect that one membership = one priority ticket, or they'd only sell one membership to a really popular guy.

I am happy with this and £25 is not a huge price to pay as a one off. Plus if it means I can get tickets to away games (which I haven't been able to since back in the Prem) I will be very pleased.

Not a one off though is it? The way I read it you will have to pay this each season. Also, will it make much difference to availability of away tickets.

As Plastic mentioned a big question is whether you can buy multiple tickets. I take my nephew every so often so it would mean having to pay for his membership too. I will probably do so but don't agree with it.

Where does this leave the points system that's never been properly implemented? In the bin I guess.

another way to squeeze more money out of fans and people say well done for it

 

 

Why are they squeezing money out of fans - where is the pay it or else? Its an option if you don't take it up then you have to join a queue and take a chance like now.

Do you believe people will struggle to get a ticket this year? I can't see there being a big change on sell-outs.

We will have to win quite a few Europa games to get to a decent team and SMS is hardly ever sold out midweek as many cannot travel.

At worst you can watch online just like many do now that can't afford to go - if £25 breaks you then so be it I feel for you - I don't but its my patronising best.

one ticket per membership - last one year only - t&c's on the website

another way to squeeze more money out of fans and people say well done for it

 

 

Or

another voluntary way for people to financially support their club and feel connected with their club and people knock them for it.

Membership scheme a great idea that worked in the past - massively over-priced for 2 adults who will only ever want to go to a handful of matches over the course of a season. The only benefit is a slightly increased chance to get tickets before general sale. Not worth £50 to me, might not get the chance to pop to St Marys and Southampton next season now, which will be a shame.

£25 per season is imho good value. I am a Gloucester Rugby season ticket holder so I have to fit games around Gloucester etc, this season it has been quite difficult as most of the fixtures clashed and I can't get down for midweek games due to family.

As I said, personally I am happy with this as it will hopefully allow me to get tickets to some away games I wouldn't normally try for (Liverpool, Utd, Citeh, Arsenal etc) and mean I have better chance at the local away games like WBA and Villa. I would love a season ticket at Saints but can't really afford it, so this is a happy medium in the short term.

one ticket per membership - last one year only - t&c's on the website

Thanks, disappointing. Would be good if you could at least buy a ticket for 1 extra 'guest'. Wasn't planning on buying up a whole block.

Why are they squeezing money out of fans - where is the pay it or else? Its an option if you don't take it up then you have to join a queue and take a chance like now.

Do you believe people will struggle to get a ticket this year? I can't see there being a big change on sell-outs.

We will have to win quite a few Europa games to get to a decent team and SMS is hardly ever sold out midweek as many cannot travel.

At worst you can watch online just like many do now that can't afford to go - if £25 breaks you then so be it I feel for you - I don't but its my patronising best.

why do you need to pay £25 to possibly be able to get tickets. when right now, that is the case without paying £25.

be honest, just another way to get more money from the fan base and football is weird enough where people will pat their club on the back for it

be alright if it meant you did not have to pay the booking fee (does it? not checked) but it probably wont, so no saving there.

why do you need to pay £25 to possibly be able to get tickets. when right now, that is the case without paying £25.

 

be honest, just another way to get more money from the fan base and football is weird enough where people will pat their club on the back for it

be alright if it meant you did not have to pay the booking fee (does it? not checked) but it probably wont, so no saving there.

There have been games both home and away when even as a Season ticket holder last year I struggled to get tickets for (Extra tickets for home games, missing out on away tickets) because you needed to be so quick off the mark.

Membership will give me a fighting chance for some of the home and away games I would like to go to, plus I do not mind paying £25 for that privilage. I can understand why some people would object to it but I have no such feeling.

Membership scheme a great idea that worked in the past - massively over-priced for 2 adults who will only ever want to go to a handful of matches over the course of a season. The only benefit is a slightly increased chance to get tickets before general sale. Not worth £50 to me, might not get the chance to pop to St Marys and Southampton next season now, which will be a shame.

Ah but what it will do is ensure the two adults who only want to see Chelsea, Man U, Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool are now paying the club £25 for the privilege of having the remotest chance of getting those tickets, and this is to be applauded.

The ones who just want to see Saints will still get the chance to buy tickets for the likes of Sunderland, Stoke and West Brom, which will usually get to general sale whether there's a membership system or not. It's only really an issue if you can only get to a few matches and they happen to be the ones you wouldn't usually be able to get tickets for, getting membership or not has always been a bit of a gamble on that front.

The other question is how will this affect ST holders trying to buy an additional ticket for a mate? I guess they need membership too.

Another factor this season will be if we make the Europa League group stages, which will shift a load of our matches between September and December to Sunday which is bound to hit demand.

Priority is a very vague term.

The club should be transparent now about what the priority pecking order will be. Will a member who has been to 6 away games be above, the same or below a season ticket holder who has been to none? That is the kind of thing that should be clarified before they start taking people´s cash..

Hopefully this will reduce the number of away fans sitting in the home end for the big games (I remember having a few Liverpool fans near me at that game), as it means that actual Saints fans should snap up these tickets before the Liverpool/Man U etc. fans can get their hands on them when on general sale.

Priority is a very vague term.

 

The club should be transparent now about what the priority pecking order will be. Will a member who has been to 6 away games be above, the same or below a season ticket holder who has been to none? That is the kind of thing that should be clarified before they start taking people´s cash..

In the past, I think ST holders regardless of how many games they have been to get get priority of non ST holders who have been to say 6 games. Always a difficult one to manage. Some people say well the ST holder has pumped more money into the club others say its takes more effort to go to 6 away games.

I am non ST holder and go to 6-8 games a season. half away and half home. I don't go to the cat A games as they are too expensive. I may give membership a go as we might have some eupora league games or other cup games I would like to go to. But if we are not in Europe the following season I probably wont bother. I can go to Cat c games regardless of being a member or not.

I've had a membership before the days I could afford a S/T and thought them quite a good idea. However , this seems a bit pricey to me . Personally I think they should knock a couple of quid off every home ticket a member buys, up to 10. That way , people who go to 10 games pay £5 to be a member, go to one and its £ 25, 5 and its £25 ect.

Although it may affect my chances of tickets I do think we need to open up away tickets a bit more, so anything that gives more people a chance to travel away is a good thing. Priority should be away games attended , not whether you're a season ticket holder or not.

It's good for my son who has been a STH for 10 years, but is intending to go to uni in September, so hasn't renewed, it means he will have first bite of the cherry for matches when he is home.

I've had a membership before the days I could afford a S/T and thought them quite a good idea. However , this seems a bit pricey to me . Personally I think they should knock a couple of quid off every home ticket a member buys, up to 10. That way , people who go to 10 games pay £5 to be a member, go to one and its £ 25, 5 and its £25 ect.

 

Although it may affect my chances of tickets I do think we need to open up away tickets a bit more, so anything that gives more people a chance to travel away is a good thing. Priority should be away games attended , not whether you're a season ticket holder or not.

How many away games don't make general sale though? Apart from a couple in London maybe.

Its a very good idea for me. I live in Cambridge and don't enjoy the best of health so a round trip to St Marys is now out of the question as none of my family live in Winchester anymore. Hopefully I'll now be in with a chance of getting tickets for matches within easy travelling distance.

I notice with regret that there is no seniors discount, and I just wish that like many cricket clubs they would offer a reduced membership to those living say over 100 miles away.

Before anybody suggests that I should try to get to away games, then as well as health problems I'm on a relatively low pension and couldn't justify spending over £100 to watch a match regularly. I have to make do with Sky, but the extended highlights on Saturday night keep me in touch with the club I love.

I still cannot understand how as a reasonably mature, intelligent professional my mood on Saturday night is largely determined by the weekend's result.

So if you are not a season ticket holder, but want to have any chance of going to a cat A game you need to spend an extra £25 for the pleasure. Sounds great.

How many away games don't make general sale though? Apart from a couple in London maybe.

I'd assumed one of the other reasons for the membership scheme would be that it might lead to the club taking bigger allocations, knowing that people had paid for priority and would be more likely to use it, though that's a pretty tenuous link when they already must know exactly what proportion of ST holders to non-ST holders are buying for away matches.

So if you are not a season ticket holder, but want to have any chance of going to a cat A game you need to spend an extra £25 for the pleasure. Sounds great.

Sounds completely fair to me. If you're only planning on going to one game in a season and it has to be a Cat A one I hope it costs a fortune.

What is going to happen here is that many non ST holders - such as myself - are going to end up having to buy into this membership thing just to have any real chance of getting tickets. For me and nipper that will in effect be £40 down the drain for next to nothing in return.

Obviously I would willing pauper myself to help out our poor cash stricken club, but there is a limit to even my sense of generosity!

I am happy with this and £25 is not a huge price to pay as a one off. Plus if it means I can get tickets to away games (which I haven't been able to since back in the Prem) I will be very pleased.

Would be interested to know which away games you've not been able to get tickets for, because I (as a non-regular) have and plenty of away matches have made it to general sale. I'll avoid saying the majority have made general sale but I'd like to see the facts. It's a lot.

It's only the 'big' away games and London ones where we have a clamour for tickets that leads to problems getting them on general sale.

People who moan about having problems getting tickets either aren't trying hard enough or are lying.

Would be interested to know which away games you've not been able to get tickets for, because I (as a non-regular) have and plenty of away matches have made it to general sale. I'll avoid saying the majority have made general sale but I'd like to see the facts. It's a lot.

Apart from Arsenal (league) I've had no problems getting tickets for away games but then again I get mine through Northern Saints.

So, with the huge increase in revenue with the new TV deal looming, saints "brand" rising and putting us within top 20 in Europe.

We now have ANOTHER way to part with cash to the club. When one really does not need to exist!!

What was wrong in implementing restrictions to purchases online/over the phone to you customer number. Kind of like what has been in place?

Now we can pay £25 for the honour and be grateful for it

another way to squeeze more money out of fans and people say well done for it

 

 

No one has to join. No one has to buy replica shirts. If you want your club to compete at the highest level I would think you would be pleased that they are trying to raise the money that will enable them to do that.

So, with the huge increase in revenue with the new TV deal looming, saints "brand" rising and putting us within top 20 in Europe.

 

We now have ANOTHER way to part with cash to the club. When one really does not need to exist!!

 

What was wrong in implementing restrictions to purchases online/over the phone to you customer number. Kind of like what has been in place?

 

Now we can pay £25 for the honour and be grateful for it

If I can get access to games that I otherwise wouldn't have chance to attend then £25 is fair, whether or not that is the case I can assess at the end of the year.

If I can get access to games that I otherwise wouldn't have chance to attend then £25 is fair, whether or not that is the case I can assess at the end of the year.

What games are these?

I went to 8 games last season. Including United at home. That was without really trying.

What was wrong in implementing more restrictions on customer numbers (like that is already done) to reward those who go more home and/or away.

No one has to join. No one has to buy replica shirts. If you want your club to compete at the highest level I would think you would be pleased that they are trying to raise the money that will enable them to do that.

This initiative will not enable us to "compete at the highest level". FFS.

Would be interested to know which away games you've not been able to get tickets for, because I (as a non-regular) have and plenty of away matches have made it to general sale. I'll avoid saying the majority have made general sale but I'd like to see the facts. It's a lot.

Very few south of Birmingham to be honest Arse in the League Cup a notable exception but then we had extra seats...

Personally think anything that keeps out the parasitic plastics is a good thing.

I know £25 sounds a lot but giving precedence on aways helps especially if you consider that any Europa to a close country is going to be massively over subscribed.

The only thing I hope is they carry over aways from last season, as that'll make the whole thing a lot fairer.

Season ticket plus most aways, membership plus most aways, general with most aways, then season tickets and everyone else is by far the best way to do it

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What games are these?

I went to 8 games last season. Including United at home. That was without really trying.

 

What was wrong in implementing more restrictions on customer numbers (like that is already done) to reward those who go more home and/or away.

I have no relatives with a season ticket, or friends that can reliably help. £25 puts me ahead of those who are not members or season ticket holders. I hope it will help, if not then it will be a one time purchase. Utterly scorning it without trying is however utterly pointless.

Doesn't it sort of become a quasi-tax? If you really want to see a match you'll pay the £25. I can't imagine a majority of the people who normally attend a Saints match would now refuse to go because of 25 quid, baring the odd anecdotal story. However, I do like the ability to buy tickets from season ticket holders that can't attend matches. I know ticket resale is a sticky subject in the UK but this is a safer, more controlled method of ensuring that Sain't fans get those seats at a reasonable price.

I have no relatives with a season ticket, or friends that can reliably help. £25 puts me ahead of those who are not members or season ticket holders. I hope it will help, if not then it will be a one time purchase. Utterly scorning it without trying is however utterly pointless.

I plan to protest against this initiative by immediately purchasing memberships for me and all members of my family.

That'll show 'em. Are you with me, Colinjb?

Very few south of Birmingham to be honest Arse in the League Cup a notable exception but then we had extra seats...

The only games south of Birmingham are London ones and Swansea if I'm being geographically correct. Throw Bournemouth into the mix next season but that will obviously be a tough one to get tickets for.

If people don't want to buy membership but still want tickets then try asking on here. Plenty will help out when they can.